The New England Botanical Club will hold its next meeting on Saturday, May 7 at 7:00 pm Eastern Time via Zoom. Non-members may register for the meeting access link here. William Cullina will speak on Public Gardens in Today’s World.
William Cullina is the F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. For eleven years prior, Bill was at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, as Director of Horticulture and Plant Curator and then as President and CEO. Cullina holds degrees in plant science and psychology; he has been working in public horticulture for 25 years. He has extensive experience in horticultural and forestry research and commercial nursery production, including, I’m sure you will remember, at The New England Wild Flower Society, now the Native Plants Trust.
A well-known author and recognized authority on North American native plants, Cullina lectures on a variety of subjects to garden and professional groups and writes for popular and technical journals. His books include Wildflowers, Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines, Understanding Orchids, Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses, and Understanding Perennials. Bill Cullina will discuss the increasingly critical role that public gardens play in American society. He will consider biophilia: the affinity of human beings for other life forms and what this means for public gardens. He will also reflect on ways that gardens provide accessibility, improve physical and mental health, engage in critical research, and provide space for quiet joy and transcendence.
